GOP Retains House Control

WSJ's Naftali Bendavid looks at the senate races, and how the Democrats have fared in key contests. Photo: Getty Images.

By

Janet Hook

Updated Nov. 7, 2012 2:31 p.m. ET

Republicans retained control of the House Tuesday night, confronting President
Barack Obama
with a continuing partisan obstacle to his second-term agenda.

The results left the chamber's balance of power intact despite a restive electorate. The House's dwindling band of conservative Democrats stood to shrink further, as Republicans defeated two Democratic incumbents in the south and picked up several open seats held by ``Blue Dog'' Democrats who had decided to retire. By 1:45 a.m., Republicans were set to win 239 seats and Democrats 193, according to the Associated Press.

Strategists in both parties expect the House's bottom line will change little, in a departure from the last three so-called wave elections that brought major swings in the party makeup of the House—toward Democrats in 2006 and 2008, and toward Republicans in 2010.

``We're humbled to have again been entrusted by the American people with the responsibility of leading the People's House,'' said House Speaker
John Boehner
(R., Ohio), in a statement prepared before the outcome of the presidential election was known. ``We stand ready to work with any willing partner—Republican, Democrat or otherwise—who shares a commitment to getting these things done.''

For months, Democrats said they could win the 25 seats needed to capture the majority from Republicans, who going into the night controlled the House by a 242-193 margin. In recent weeks, however, they softened their tone and said they expected only single-digit gains.

Democrats remained hopeful that they would not lose seats. "It's going to be a good night,'' House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) said at a party rally held before polls had closed on the West Coast.

Dozens of new faces will appear on Capitol Hill thanks to a big wave of retirements, including 19 Democrats and 15 Republicans who chose not to run for re-elections. Even before Election Day, five incumbents were voted out of office in primaries.

Many incumbents who did choose to run again faced tough re-election fights in newly drawn districts—in some cases, against other incumbents—as a result of the decennial census. The new district map in Ohio pitted Reps. Betty Sutton (D., Ohio) and Rep. James Renacci (R., Ohio) against each other. In Iowa, Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell was pitted against Republican Rep. Tom Latham. In California, veteran Democrats
Brad Sherman
and
Howard Berman
fought a bitter match.

The day of voting threatened to further erode Democrats' conservative Blue Dog coalition, which took heavy losses in 2010. Among those who managed to hang on were Rep. John Barrow (D., Ga.), the last remaining white House Democrat from the Deep South.

North Carolina was expected to produce a spate of Republican gains, which began with a GOP victory in the seat opened by the retirement of Blue Dog leader Rep. Heath Shuler. Republican Mark Meadows, a real-estate investor, handily beat Mr. Shuler's chief of staff, Hayden Rogers.

Rep.
Larry Kissell
(D., N.C.), one of the party's most vulnerable incumbents, was handily defeated. Rep. Mike McIntyre (D., N.C.), battling to hold on to his seat, was seen as a bellwether for the party's prospects. Republicans also picked up Democratic open seats in Indiana, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Democrats countered their losses by defeating Republican incumbents in the Northeast and Midwest, and picked up more seats in California. In Illinois, four Republican incumbents from differing wings of the party were defeated. Two centrists--Rep. Judy Biggert (R., Ill.), in her seventh term, and Rep. Robert Dold, a freshmen—were defeated. So too were two freshman tea party allies. Rep. Joe Walsh, well-known for his willingness to buck the GOP leadership, was defeated by disabled veteran and former Senate candidate Tammy Duckworth. Rep. Bobby Shilling, a former pizza parlor owner, also lost.

Other prominent tea party allies faced stiff challenges in other states. Rep.
Allen West
of Florida faced a tough challenge from Democrat Patrick Murphy, in a costly and bitter campaign. Two other nationally known conservatives—Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who ran for president in 2012, and Steve King of Iowa—were also facing tough fights, but Mr. King pulled out a victory over Christie Vilsack, former first lady of Iowa.

Other Republican incumbents who were defeated in rematches with their 2010 opponents: centrist Rep. Charlie Bass (R., N.H.) who lost to Democrat Ann Kuster; and GOP Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, who was beaten by former Rep. Dan Maffei in upstate New York.

Meanwhile, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R., Md,), a 10-term incumbent, lost his seat after his district was redrawn to include many more Democrats. In Florida, Democrat Joe Garcia defeated GOP Rep. David Rivera, a freshman who had been dogged by scandal. In Texas, Republican freshman Quico Canseco was defeated, and California produced a bumper crop of Democratic pickups.

The 2012 class of newcomers will include Democrat
Joseph P. Kennedy III,
a grandson of former senator
Robert F. Kennedy.

ENLARGE

House Speaker John Boehner, R., Ohio, presents a photo id as he gets his ballot to vote, Tuesday in West Chester, Ohio.
AP

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